The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • ‘Goalscoring good for Iwobi’s confidence’

    Everton’s playmaker, Gylfi Sigurdsson has said that the two goals that Alex Iwobi scored for the Toffees this season will boost his confidence going into the international break.

    Iwobi who is currently with the Super Eagles in Dnipro, venue of their upcoming friendly game against Ukraine tomorrow netted his first goal in Everton shirt during a Carabao Cup fixture against Lincoln City and got his second against Wolves, after an inviting cross from Sigurdsson, in a game that ended 3-2 in favor of the Toffees.

    Read Also: ALEX IWOBI: I want to be Premiership legend

    Speaking to Liverpool Echo, Sigurdsson praised Iwobi for making an immediate impact in the team stressing that it was nice to see the Nigerian score his first Everton goal in only his second game for the club.

    “Of course for him, for an attacking player, it’s nice to get that first goal early on,” he said. ”It’s good for the confidence and all of the other boys, not just him. With Fabian Delph coming back from injury and Djibril Sidibe, who made his Everton debut against Lincoln City, there’s good depth in the squad at the moment.”

  • PDP asks Buhari to quit over minister’s ‘plea for pardon’ on certificate

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately vacate office over a trending video in the social media where Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, pleaded with Nigerians over the President’s WAEC certificate controversy.

    But the minister said the video was doctored to circulate fake news and ridicule the Buhari administration by “a deperate opposition”.

    In the video, which hit the social media on Friday, Mohammed averred that having left secondary school 53 years ago, the President should be pardoned for not knowing where he kept the certificate.

    The video is said to be an extract from an interview the minister granted Channels Television on January 22, 2015, when he was the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) spokesman.

    “Fifty-three years after a fellow had left secondary school, 53 years! I think we should pardon him if he does not even know where he has kept it (certificate),” Mohammed says in the video.

    At a media briefing yesterday in Abuja, PDP’s spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan said: “Our party mocks the Buhari Presidency for pushing out the video wherein the minister pleaded with Nigerians to pardon President Buhari over his false WAEC certificate claims.

    Read Also: WAEC official, presidential aide confirm Buhari’s certificates

    “PDP notes the deliberate ploy of Alhaji Mohammed to appeal to sentiments, seeing that Mr. President had failed to defend himself before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.”

    The party also said the pronouncement and appeal for pardon by the minster, who is also a lawyer, was a direct plea for guilt, which the party said cannot save the President from the course of justice in the pending petition.

    But the minister had attributed the trending video to what he called the antics of desperate opposition that decided to use fake news and disinformation to make Nigeria ungovernable, having lost woefully at the polls.

    In a statement at the weekend by his media aide, Mr Segun Adeyemi, the minister said: “A pattern is emerging of the antics of the desperate opposition to latch on to the use of fake news and disinformation as a strategy to trigger chaos in the country.

    “They doctored and circulated the video of my appearance on Channels Television in January 2015 (when I was the spokesman of the APC) to make it look like I was begging Nigerians to forgive President Buhari for not having a school certificate.

    “Worse still, they posted the video afresh, giving the impression it happened last Thursday and that I acted in my capacity as Minister of Information and Culture.

    “Unfortunately for them, this doctored video came out on the same day a report emerged that the PDP had sent lawyers and party agents to the University of Cambridge (in the United Kingdom) to confirm the authenticity of the President’s West African School Certificate, only to be stunned to discover that not only did the President write the examination, he also passed.

    “One would have expected a party that trumpets its belief in the rule of law, a party that challenged the result of the last presidential election in court, to wait patiently for the impending judgment on the issue, instead of engaging in underhand tactics and resorting to self-help.”

    Mohammed urged Nigerians to be discerning at this time and to check the veracity of any information they receive.

    “This is just the beginning. Nigerians should expect an explosion of fake news and disinformation in the days and weeks ahead. This is because the desperation of this opposition is alarming. But their strategy will fail, just like every other dubious strategy that they have been employing in their desperate bid to grab power,” he said.

  • Sultan condemns clerics who incite people to violence

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has condemned some pastors and imams who he said incite other faiths to violence and politicise religion.

    He spoke yesterday at an inter-faith session he held with Christians and Muslims in Akure, the Ondo State capital, as a prelude to the public lecture marking the Ulefunta festival where he is billed to deliver a speech today with the title: “Our diversity, a divine gift and blessing untapped: Wrong path trodden and way to peace.”

    The Sultan came hard on Pastors and Imams who climb the pulpits and rostrums to incite the faithful.

    He urged them to exercise restraint and caution in the way they go about their preaching.

    “Don’t politicise religion. God does not belong to any political party. The Bible doesn’t belong to any political party, so does the Quran. If you are a good pastor, imam, teach people how to salvage their lives. This life is a temporary one, the permanent life is eternal. There is a lot of materialism out there. They move in convoys with guns, big vehicles saying they are the founders of this Church, this Islamic movement, all in a bid to acquire worldly things for themselves and their followers are there shouting Alleluia, shouting Allahuakbar. They are getting richer and richer and the common man is getting poorer and poorer,” he said.

    The Sultan admonished all the faiths to see one another as neighbours.

    The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, hailed the Sultan for his interventionist roles of “making peace all over the world,” saying he was on the verge of travelling to the United Kingdom for another peace meeting.

    He asked the inter-faith congregation to pray for the success of the Sultan’s engagements and for peace in Nigeria.

  • FIBA World Cup: D’Tigers relish Olympics qualification

    Member of the national team, D’Tigers broke into wild jubilation after securing qualification to the 2020 Olympics Games beating China 86-73 on Sunday at the FIBA World Cup in China.

    Head Coach, Alex Nwora described the win as a sweet victory which was enough to compensate the team for missing out of a place in the quarter finals.

    The Nigerians pipped African champions, Tunisia to the ticket after yesterday crucial win. Both teams finished with three wins from five games but D’Tigers got the ticket with better points difference.

    The men’s basketball team became the first team sport to secure a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games after defeating China yesterday.

    The resilient team took the initiative in the second quarter from China who won the first quarter, 21-19 points as they asserted their authority to end the first half, 35-31 points.

    Read Also: FIBA World Cup: Nigeria beats Cote d’Ivoire to inch closer to Tokyo 2020

    Playing against China who were also desperate for an automatic ticket from Asia, the players came to the party to clinch the 3rd and 4th quarters, 25-20, 26-22 on the day that four players recorded double figures.

    Josh Okogie who shot 16 points, three assists and five rebounds to help his team to a win was unanimously voted as the man of the match while Nnamdi Vincent scored 14 points, two assists and one rebound.

    Ekpe Udoh and Chimezie Metu scored 13 and 11 points respectively as the D’Tigers recorded the highest number of wins (3) in a single World Cup.

    The Honorable Minister of Sports, Dare Sunday immediately after the win in a phone conversation with the team congratulated them for the win which has elevated the status of Nigerian sports globally.

    NBBF President, Engr Musa Kida said the Olympics ticket and the boys performance was a testament to hardwork of the board and the technical crew.

  • El-Zakzaky, wife, to travel abroad for medical treatment

    Leader of the proscribed Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat, may travel abroad soon for medical treatment.

    The Nation learnt last night that Indonesia and Malaysia are being considered as possible countries for the treatment.

    IMN spokesman Ibrahim Musa told our reporter that Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife may visit either Malaysia or Indonesia for medical attention.

    He said: “I know he said that they are going to look at other countries – Malaysia and Indonesia. I do not know if they have reached an agreement on that.”

    Musa said that Shi’ite members would embark on tomorrow’s Ashura procession in Abuja and other cities, despite Inspector-General (IG) Mohammed Adamu that the group remain banned from doing so.

    The police had said that no group should hold protest or procession on major streets in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, except at the Unity Fountain.

    Read Also: Iran backing El-Zakzaky to Islamise Nigeria, says Fed Govt

    But the IMN vowed that the government cannot stop its annual procession.

    The group maintained that government does not have any constitutional and legal backing to stop any procession by the IMN.

    On Friday, the IMN accused Saudi Arabia of colluding with the Federal Government to stop the Ashura procession.

    Top member of the group insisted that the IMN, under the leadership of Sheikh Zakzaky, “is a mass movement of conscious people who abhor injustice and oppression.

    Musa said: “There is no going back on the plan to hold the much talked about annual procession. The government should not contemplate attacking us. The government wants to act illegally on our matter. So, I think it is wrong to think that we are supposed to withdraw our plan to hold the procession.

    “What right has the government to attack a peaceful procession? Constitutionally and legally government have no right to stop us. We should not be stopped by government from carrying out our religious activities.

    “We are exercising our god-given right to mourn the massacre of Prophet’s grandson and also constitutionally we have the right to the procession on Tuesday (tomorrow).

    “It is the government that should consider our procession right and not we informing or begging government over our right. This is not going to be the first we are doing Ashura procession. We have been doing it for years and it has been peaceful.”

    Musa said that the United Nations (UN) has cautioned the government against clamping down on harmless protesters.

    “I am assuring you that there is going to be Ashura procession in Abuja and major cities in the country. There is no need to inform the police about our procession because it is an annual event. And it is their duty to come and give us protection and not to come and attack us.”

  • Siasia cries out: Kidnappers refused to release my mother despite N1.5m ransom

    Despite paying N1.5 million to kidnappers in Bayelsa for the release of his mother Madam Beauty Ogere, former Super Eagles’ coach, Samson Siasia has cried out that his mother has not been released.

    Siasia lamented to the NationSport in Abuja yesterday, “The situation is pathetic. Nothing has changed. We paid N1.5 million for her release but instead of releasing my mother they released my cousin’s mother-in-law (66 year old Florence Donana) and also captured the person that took the money to them.

    “So as we speak, three people are still in the kidnappers’ den – my mother, the young girl and the guy that took the money to them. I am tired, frustrated and confused. I don’t know what else to do,” Siasia lamented.

  • Two suspected robbers, nine cultists held in Lagos

    The police in Lagos at the weekend arrested two suspected armed robbers and nine cultists in the Bariga and Imota areas of the state.

    The suspects, Francis Aiyekomologbon and Daniel Okorie, were arrested on Saturday morning at Bariga.

    Aiyekomologbon, a resident of 10, Olatunji Street, Bariga, was arrested along Abeokuta Street after allegedly robbing one Damilare Ismaila of his phone whereas, Okorie was held at 13, Olarewaju Street Akoka for allegedly attempting to steal a white bus parked at that address by one Tolu Onyenusi.

    Read Also: Two held for alleged possession of Indian hemp

    Command spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), also said two suspects Emmanuel Chinonso, 21, and Thomas Israel, 20, alleged to be key leaders of the Eiye cult group in Imota were arrested.

    Elkana said the suspects confessed their gang was responsible for some violent attacks recorded in Imota, adding that two battle axes, a knife and beret were recovered from them.

    He said seven additional suspects were arrested between Friday and Saturday, identifying them as Ariyo Omonuga, 25, Oyerinde Omoniyi, 23, Adelaja Opeyemi, 28, Hassan Babatunde, 26, Sodiq Babatunde, 24, Sodiq Oladire, 22, and Shakiru Liasu, 18.

    “Investigation is ongoing and the suspects will be charged to court,” he said.

  • Lagos council bans NURTW activities

    FOLLOWING the crisis rocking the activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Itire-Ikate Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State, which led to the breakdown of law and order last Thursday, the council Chairman, Dr Ahmed Olarenwaju Apatira has suspended the union activities.

    Apatira issued a statement last Friday halting to the activities of the union in the council area.

    The council boss said the decision was taken after numerous complaints from the public that the NURTW members were planning to unleash mayhem in Itire-Ikate LCDA.

    Apatira said the decision became inevitable due to intelligence reports gathered in the last few days of an impending factional overthrow and counter-overthrow of leadership of the union within the local government area.

    It would be recalled that the change in leadership of the union at the state level pitched the union members against one another.

    The Nation learnt that those who are not in the camp of the new leadership have been feeling uncomfortable and have threatening mayhem in their branches.

    But the Lagos State Caretaker Committee members led by the former State Treasurer Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (a.k.a MC Oluomo) last week told The Nation that Oluomo urged them to reach out to the aggrieved members.

    A member of the committee, Ibrahim Yusuf said the committee under the leadership of Oluomo will work for the progress of the union.

    Read Also: ‘MC Oluomo’s appointment will end NURTW Crisis’

    Yusuf, the Ifelodun Branch ‘A’ Chairman said: “I am happy that MC Oluomo was chosen as the leader. He has the capacity to bring everybody under one umbrella and during a meeting today (yesterday) he urged us to reach out to the aggrieved members. We will ensure there is unity among our members in all branches. The aggrieved parties should join us to move the union forward. We appeal to them not aggravate the issue at hand.”

    Comrade Tijani, who is the Ikorodu Branch ‘B’ Chairman, said Oluomo has the passion for the development of the union.

    “He wants peace in the union and told us to welcome anybody that wants to join us. He has the capacity to lead the union and won’t discriminate,” he said.

    Apatira said, “It is worrisome that residents of Itire-Ikate LCDA cannot sleep with their eyes closed due to the lingering crisis that has emanated from the union members few days ago.

    “All measures taken over time by security personnel in the local government area to bring lasting and peaceful resolution to the breakdown of peace, law and order by the members and agents of the union proved abortive as lives and properties in the local government have come under severe threat.”

    According to him, the council is invoking her constitutional right to own and manage motor parks as stated in “Schedule 4 made pursuant to Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, paragraph 1e thereof, which provides for Establishment, Maintenance and Regulation of Slaughter Houses, Slaughter Slabs, Markets, Motor Parks and Public Convenience”.

    “The suspension order would be in place till sanity and peace is guaranteed by members of the union.”

    Apatira, in a letter to the Area ‘D’ Police Commandant in Mushin, on Friday titled “Obstruction of peace,” urged the police to ensure sanity in the area.

    The letter reads: “I write to inform you of the obstruction of peace by members of the NURTW within the council area.

    “In view of the above, I write to intimate you of this ugly situation and to inform you that the activities of the union are hereby suspended till further notice. Your urgent intervention to avoid breakdown of law and order and restore peace in the community is hereby sought.”

    Lagos State Caretaker Committee Chairman Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (a.k.a MC Oluomo) told The Nation that the warring parties have been called to order.

    “We have spoken to them and advised them to sheathe their swords. Like I always say, there is no point fighting ourselves. We are one body irrespective of who is at the helm of affairs,” he said.

     

  • World Athletics Championships: IAAF tips Brume to excel

    With less than 17 days to the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, the world athletics ruling body has tipped Nigeria’s Ese Brume as one of the possible medalists at the global event.

    Brume who jumped 6.69m in the women’s long jump at the 2019 African Games in Morocco to claim gold medal has been described by IAAF as the only African female athlete to reach the podium in field events between the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships and the 2016 Olympics Games.

    In its 13th edition of the stars to watch out for in Doha published on July this year, IAAF featured the African Champion whom they said has the quality to mount the podium in Doha.

    At 20 years of age, Brume reached the long jump final at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and finished fifth in the competition where she was the youngest contestant. In terms of numbers, her most successful year though was 2018 when she leapt 6.83m to win the African title on home soil in Asaba. She is aiming bigger though for this year’s Worlds in Doha,” IAAF stated.

    A confident Brume however told IAAF.org, “I will build on the successes I recorded on the track in 2018, especially as we look forward to the World Athletics Championship in Doha in 2019. By the Grace of God, I will capture a medal for Team Nigeria. That is my target,” Brume said.

    “The 2019 World Athletics Championship is a bigger event. I will need the support of Nigerians both the

    government, sports-loving individuals and corporate bodies to get a better result,” the Nigerian long

    jumper said, adding: “I will need the support of all Nigerians to achieve my dream, she added.

  • Makinde: ban on NURTW still in force

    Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said the ban on the activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) is still in force.

    He spoke yesterday against the backdrop of invasion of the state secretariat of the union by yet-to-identified members of the NURTW.

    Sources said factional members loyal to a former state Chairman, Mr. Mukaila Lamidi, popularly called ‘Auxiliary’, had invaded the secretariat to sack the union officials.

    The sources added that the invaders, who came in about 50 vehicles, caused commotion in the area, as people ran.

    No casualty was recorded.

    Reacting to a question about the invasion of the secretariat and the possibility of forceful takeover of motor parks by the ‘Auxiliary’ faction, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, said: “The union activities remain banned and will remain so until further notices.”

    Read Also: ‘MC Oluomo’s appointment will end NURTW Crisis’

    Adisa, who addressed reporters at the Iyaganku, Ibadan secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said: “Yes, we got the information of the invasion of NURTW office by a faction.

    “The police have assured the government that they will protect lives and property.

    “The government has banned NURTW activities and the ban remains in force. They should not take the government for granted.

    “The police are on ground and whoever breaches the law will face the wrath of the law,” he added.

    Governor Makinde in June proscribed the activities of the NURTW following leadership tussle, which left many people injured and property destroyed.

    Efforts to reach ‘Auxiliary’ on the phone last night were futile, as calls made to his phone showed it had been switched off.